The Show must go on…………………..
Club Sixty was a wonderful movie for many reasons, a good movie, seeing Sarika on screen after long, one of the last ones of Farooq Shiekh and above all it left me thinking and scared as I would be in that boat in next few years !!
It is a movie based on the post retirement life of few so called senior citizens. The story revolves around a couple, played by Farooq Sheikh and Sarika, both doctors and in their early sixties, who move to Mumbai from Pune, after winding up their work and home there, to get away from memories of the recent death of their only young son. They settle in a flat and while the wife picks up a job, the husband is too depressed to work or even cope up with day to day life. A very overfriendly lively gujju inmate of the building ,Mannu bhai, forces his friendship on them and much against the wishes of the Doctor, forces him to join the Club Sixty ,a club exclusively for senior citizens. He introduces the doc couple to his gang of four more lively men….all in sixties, enjoying life in spite of all their personal problems. One has lost his wife and kids in an accident, one stays alone as his family including wife is settled abroad, the other’s wife eloped with his friend, one stays with his wife as his son has decided to live with his rich in laws in same city and the fifth is struggling to look after his paralytic wife, single handed.
All these men have made each other their family and are happy and contended with their life and fighting all odds bravely. They live life to the fullest, with their club life, sports, socializing, parties, drinking and even women! Their genuine concern for each other is excellently shown in various incidents including the one where one of them who is alone in India has a heart attack and how these friends of his ,not only take care of him but also bear the expense of the treatment. They force the doctor to come out of his depression and become part of their fun gang and even celebrate their dead sons birthday to celebrate his memory in a most touching way. The doctor comes out of his shell and even successfully operates on the gujju friend when he has a sudden brain clot and restarts his career as a neurosurgeon and saves the friends life. The over talkative Mannu Bhai cannot talk now, but continues to be happy and enjoying life.
A very simple but strong story has addressed a very pertinent contemporary issue of living alone in post retirement age with myriads of problems, main being the loneliness and neglect from children and family members. The plot is good, dialogues realistic and screen play has spontaneity and flow. With good direction the movie has an effective editing, simple presentation, pleasant songs and music and above all a capability to force the audience to relate with it. Farooq Shiekh has given a strong performance, worth being remembered has his last movie. It was good to see Sarika back on screen after long and she appeared even more seasoned as an effective actress. Raghubeer Yadav has acted superbly as Mannu Bhai and Satish Shah has contributed significant entertainment as one of the gang members. All other characters have done justice to their roles.
The movie has many messages, the present age of sixty for retirement is no age to retire from career or life and though you enter the so called group of senior citizens, one is never old enough to give up enjoying life ,so all should keep the child within alive and be young at heart. Family is important but one needs to be independent and find love of family in friends who can be of great help in need. The main however, being that we all have our share of problems and sorrows in life, but we shouldn’t ever give up as nothing is bigger than life and the show should go on.
Club Sixty, with the wonderful message of adding life to years and not just years to life is a must see !
Sanjay Kapoor, New Delhi